Hungary’s Voters Delivered. The EU Can Help the Transition Stick

Hungary’s Viktor Orban built a system so rigged that only a landslide defeat could dislodge it. Voters delivered one. Now, translating those results into real change will require action from leaders in Brussels as well as in Budapest.

Peter Magyar’s Tisza Party secured the very constitutional supermajority Orban used to reshape state institutions including the judiciary, forge a media ecosystem dedicated to party propaganda, and embed loyalists across regulatory bodies. That gives the incoming government the power to unwind his illiberal moves. The challenge will be to restore the independence of institutions without getting bogged down by inevitable resistance.